Aeroplane.



A. A. HEIL.

AEROPLANE.

APPLIOATION FILED 00125, 1909.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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lwwwcw A. A. HEIL.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED 001'. 5. 1909.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED 0015, 1909.

' Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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ANDREW A. HEIL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

Application filed October 5, 1909. Serial No. 521,052.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW A. Hair, a.

citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the followin is a specification, reference being had to t e accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in aero-planes and has for its object to provide a. machine of this character which is so constructed that the body or passenger carrying portion thereof will always retain a horizontal position in the air, irrespective of the direction of its constructed of very few Another object is to provide a machine of this character designed with a view to navigating the air, the propelling mechanism of which is so constructed and disposed with relation to the flight directing wings, as to direct theai'r currents against said wings to assist in retaining the machine in the air.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an aero-plane which is parts, the rudders or-directing members which are positioned and supported on the front and rear of the machine frame, being simultaneously or independently directed together with the longitudinal side Wings, by the manipulation of a suitable'steering' handle centrally mounted in the frame.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aeroplane illustrating one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a. similar view, showing the side wings and the end directing nemhcrs d' posed at an inclination to the body of the achine; Fig. 3 is a front end elevation; fig. 4; is a horizontal section taken on 9 is a detail section taken on the line 9--9 of Fig, 8; and Fig. 10 is a detail section taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings 5 indicates the frame or body portion of the machine which comprises the parallel longitudinal upper and lower bars or rods 6 and 7 respectively,

to the ends of which the rods 8 are secured. If desired a flooring of any suitable material may be secured between the lower frame bars, and between these bars the operators seat 9 is arranged centrally of the machine.

Between the end rods '8 of the frame, the longitudinal shafts 10 are disposed and are supported by the diagonal rods 11 which extend inwardly from the upper and lower corners of the frame, and have a bearing 12 formed at their meeting ends in which the shaft 10 is rotatably mounted. Upon each of the shafts 10 a band wheel 13 is secured, around which passes a driving belt 13 which is connected to an engine or motor of any desired construction suitably mounted in the frame. Upon each of the shafts 10 a screw propeller 14 is spirally disposed, and gradu 'ally increases in diameter from its ends to the center of the shaft. Any desired number of convolutions of the propeller blade may be employed in proportion to the dimensions of the machine frame.

' The vertical rods or standards 15. are secured to the bearings 12 at one end of the shafts 10, and a transversely and upwardly extending bar or rod 16 is secured to the upper end of each of said rods. The outer end of the rod 16 is supported and braced by the diagonal rods 1.7 which are secured to the upper and lower ends of the frame 5. A hving or vane 18 is )ivotally mounted on one of its ends upon t1e transverse rod 16, and a depending rod 19 is pivotally connected'to the opposite end thereof.

Centrally arranged in the machine frame and secured to thel mse or floor thereof, there is a post or standard 20 upon the upper end of which a T-sha ed sleeve 21'is mounted. The vertical cylin( rical portion of this sleeve is rotatably mounted upon the upper end of the 0st as shown at 22 in Fig. 5 and may be rigidly secured thereto by means of a set screw 23. Through a horizontal tubular portion 24 of the sleeve, a steerin handle 25 extends and has its extremities isposed at right angles to provide suitable hand grasps 25 and extending rearwardly therefrom there is a 'rod 27, which is pivotally connected at its other end to the lower end of the depending rod 19 which in turn is pivotally connected to the wing 18. Thus it will be seen that as the operating handle is turned within the sleeve, the rod 19 will be moved upwardly and downwardly through the medium of the connecting rod 27, whereby the wings 18 will be positioned at an inclination to the horizontal plane of the machine. The coin necting rod 27 is rigidly secured to a short arm 27 carried by the steering handle to insure the proper adjustment of the wings. After the wings have been adjusted as de sired, the handle 25 is rigidly secured in po- I sition by means of the set screw 25.

Upon the opposite endsof the frame of the machine, and positioned centrally thereof are the rudders'or directing members 28. These members comprise the substantially triangular vanes 28 which are shown in Fig. 6 are four in number and extend at right angles to each other. These vanes may be connected in any preferred manner and secured centrally thereof at one end is the female member 29 of a balleandsocket joint,-which permits of the universal pivotal movement of the directing members.

The male member 30 of the joint is carried I upon the central vertical end rods 8 of the supporting frame. Secured to the inner edges of one pair of the vanes $28- of each of the directing members, are the ears 31. The ears upon the vanes atone end of the machine are positioned in a reverse direction from those at the'opposite end of the machine as shown in Fig. 1. To each of these ears one end of the steering rods 32 is loosely connected, the opposite ends of said rods being secured to an eye 33 carried by the steering handle.

It will be noted that the eyes for one pair of the supporting rods are disposed upon one side of the center of the handle 25, and

the eyes for the other of the rods extend in a radially opposite direction 'to; the first named'eye. Thus when the handle is turned within the sleeve '21 to adjust the wings 18, at the same time the directing members '28 will also be angularly disposed from the opposite ends of the frame-in a parallel plane to the wings, such inclination determining the direction of flight of the machine. By

providing the universal pivotal connection rame for the directing members,

to the they may be also directed transversely as well as vertically, by turning the handle 25 upon the upper end of the supporting rod 20. One of the rods 32 isslidable in one of the ears 31 and acts as a guide for the members 28, while the otherv of the rods actuates the members to change their position with relation. to the ends of the frame structure.

This adjustment of the members will have 35 which is mounted in the frame 5".

, ceases no efi ect'what-ever upon the,previous horizontal disposition of said members and the wings 18, the supporting handle being rigidly held within the sleeve by the set screw 25 to prevent its rotation.

The wings 18 are preferably inclined upwardly from their longitudinal edges to form a shallow inverted triangularly shaped vane as shown in Fig. 3. A cover 34L of' like form is secured to the upper longitudinal frame rods 6, and provides a retaining means for the air currents which are thrown outwardly from the propellers 14, uponthe underside of the wings 18 and cover 34, whereby the machine is're'ndered more buoy-' ant .and its suspension in the air is thus assured. The wings 18,-vanes 28 and cover 34 may be conveniently formed of canvas .or other material of a similar nature. j From the foregoing it Wlll be seen that I have provided an aero plane in the construction of which a minimum number of I elements are employed which will not read: ily be broken, the propelling parts and adjustable wings being so arranged that the greatest possible buoyancy is secured without additional parts and consequent expense in the construction of the machine.

'It will be understood that if desired but one of the spiral propelling members may be used, without materially altering the .construction of the remainder of the machine in any of its essential features, and I reserve the right to make such changes as .may appear to be best adapted to the requirements of a machine-of this character, which are within the scope of the claims.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 a slightly modified form of the steering mechanism is illustrated. This construction is somewhat simpler than that previously described andcomprises a central vertically disposed shaft shaft is rotatable in the frame'and a longitudinal bar 36 is centrally pivoted thereon adjacent to its upper end. formed with the collar 37 which surrounds the shaft 35. Pivot pins 38 extend through the collar and into the shaft. On these pins the bar 36 has vertical pivotal movement.

.The outer ends of the bar 36 are connected This This bar is to the bar 36. One end of this lever is extended adjacent to the operators seat and provided with a handle 45 by means of which it may be easily manipulated. The opposite end of. the lever 44 is connected b' means of a rod 46 to the bar 36, and it Wlll be obvious that when the operating lever is moved upwardly ordownwardly from ,its point of pivotal connection to the shaft 35, the bar 36 will likewise be swung into parallel relation thereto. This movement of the bar 36 will position the rudder shafts in the collars 41 as shown in Fig. 8, in a common direction thus directing the flight of the machine.

'The rudders will likewise be laterally positioned by turning the shaft-35 which will swing the rudder shafts and collars 41 laterally in the frame and the rudders to opposite sides of its longitudinal center.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In an aero plane, the combination of a frame, propelling mechanism mounted in said frame, longltudinal side wings pivotally sup orted at one of their ends on said frame, irecting members universally pivoted on the opposite ends of said frame, and means for simultaneously ad'usting the inkclination of'said wings and irecting'memers.

2. In an aero-plane, the combination of a frame, longitudinal side wings adjustably supported on said' frame, adjusting means carried by the frame, and a screw propeller rotatably mounted in said frame adjacent to the wings, said propeller increasing in diameter from its ends to its center to direct the air currents against said'wings.

3. In an aerolane the combination of a frame, longitu inally disposed propeller shafts mounted in said frame, a propeller blade spirally disposed on each of said shafts and increasing in diameter from its ends to its center, longitudinal side wings pivotally supported at one of their ends on said frame, means for raising and lowering the other end of said wings, and directing members universally pivoted upon the ends of said frame, and means for vertically and transversely adjusting said members thereon.

4. In an aero-plane the combination of a frame, propeller shafts longitudinally disposed in said frame, supporting rods for said shafts, said rods having journal bearings formed at their inner ends to receive said shafts, a propeller blade s irally disposed about said shaft, vertical standards secured on said bearings, transverse rods pivoted at one end of said 1 by said members may be vertically or trans versely directed.

5. In an aeroplane, the combination with a frame, propeller shafts rotatabl mounted in said frame, a spiral propeller b ade disposed aboutsaid shafts a wing ivotally su ported on opposite sides of t e frame a acent to the ropellers, a supporting handle cen-' trally isposed in said frame, connecting rods between said handle and the rear ends of said win s, substantially triangular directing mem ers universally pivoted on the opposite ends of said frame, each of said members having ears secured thereto dis posed in opposite directions, a connectlng ,rod between said ears and the operatin handle, said handle being positione throu h a T shaped sleeve, said sleeve being rotata ly mounted upon the up er-end ofa sup ortlng standard, said. han e being rotata le within the horizontal tubular portion of said sleeve, means for securing said sleeve and handle against rotation, and a cover for said frame extending inwardly and upwardly from the sides thereof to pro- 'vide a shallow air receiving chamber. In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. ANDREW A. HEIL.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM RICHTER, SAM ALEXANDER. 

